Real Estate

Special Report: The Digital Home

Home education
 Designers say new technology will make us smarter, helping us communicate, stay safe and keep happily entertained at the touch of a button. One new product even makes getting dressed easier: A mirror that provides fashion advice.
• See the full Special Report

Home buying and selling
On the auction block
A sign of the times in the housing market: Buyers flock to Chicago-area condo auction seeking bargain places to live -- or invest.
• Strategies for getting bargains under the hammer
• Trump's 92-story boast  | Rival Chicago spire imperiled

Obama's Challenge
Home builders need help
Housing and construction are suffering in this recession and they'll need to rebound if the economy is to heal.
• What President-elect Obama can do for the housing market

 Realty Q&A
Fixed for a while
Lew Sichelman tells adjustable-rate mortgage holders to be patient if the time to their adjustment is long.
• Fly-in locales best choice for Mexico second home
You owe the realty commission you agreed to
BY LEW SICHELMAN
We recently sold a house and the title company goofed up and took an incorrect amount for our agent's commission. Now they are asking me to come up with the difference. Am I legally liable for their error due to my contract signed with the agent?

Treasury: Monitoring bailout funds is 'difficult'
BY RONALD D. OROL
The Treasury Department says it's a challenge to understand how financial institutions participating in the $700 billion bank bailout program are using the capital they receive.

30-year mortgage rate falls for ninth straight week to new low
BY AMY HOAK
The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the ninth week in a row this week, setting another record low, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey released on Wednesday.

Mortgage application volumes hold steady as rates drop: MBA
BY AMY HOAK
The volume of residential mortgage applications filed last week shows little change from the prior week, evan as the interest rates charged on mortgages fall further, data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association show.

Fed says it will start buying mortgage securities in January
BY ALISTAIR BARR
The Federal Reserve says it will start buying mortgage-backed securities in early January in the central bank’s latest effort to stabilize housing markets and resuscitate the U.S. economy.

Home prices off record 18% in past year, Case-Shiller says
BY RUTH MANTELL
Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities drop a further 2.2% in October from September, with their annualized drop working out to a record 18% , according to the Case-Shiller price index compiled by Standard & Poor's. An IHS Global Insight analysts sees little respite for homeowners.

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